We’re not in Africa anymore

25 December, Saturday; Not in Africa. I am leaving Africa with mixed emotions. While I loved our time here and have added to my list of more places in Africa to visit (Mombasa; Kenya; Namibia; Botswana; Mozambique; Congo – is that even possible right now?; others), but I’m also ready to get back to the Western world where I know a flush toilet is around every corner. I can tell we’re not in Africa anymore as the plane starts to descend into Brussels. The city is blanketed in snow.


Somewhere over Europe	Safely on the ground	Brussels’ Airport

We still hadn’t quite adjusted to not being on safari. It’s difficult to stop your eyes from darting across the landscape to look for anything that is moving. As the plane was taxiing to the gate, Ben spotted a family of four rabbits in the snow. I can feel the cold air flood the plane as the door opens. The walk down the stairs is freezing and we are treated to a brief moment outside in the cold before boarding the bus to what seems like the other end of the airport. Walking into the airport, I can already tell. All of the sudden, I don’t feel like I’m trapped in the 70’s anymore. Oh, modern buildings, how I’ve missed you.

Christmas Breakfast

We enjoyed our flights home. Ben splurged and spent some of his points on two business-class tickets home to end our honeymoon I guess it was also a bit of a Christmas treat. However, it still doesn’t feel like Christmas to me. Our third flight home was to Washington, DC and we arrived safely, though one of our bags didn’t. After politely asking three people, Ben was finally able to get a tiny nugget of information. The bag at least made it to Brussels. Not sure why the first two people we talked to couldn’t give us that little bit of information. So much for the Christmas spirit. Oh, and on the Christmas spirit subject again. There was an elderly woman who didn’t speak English and had inordinately heavy bags to carry. As we exited customs and baggage recheck, she was staring at the monitor trying to figure out what to do. I offered to help and then realized that her connecting flight was from a far away gate and already boarding. Ben and I picked up her bags and started guiding her while looking for a United staff member to help get a ride for her. She was breathing heavily (later found out was asthma) and clearly couldn’t carry her own bags, which we were carrying for her. We found a United employee and explained the situation. Upon hearing that she didn’t speak English and that we were just helping her, he scoffed, “Of course,” and simply pointed down the corridor and said it would be a 5 minute walk. For a healthy person, sure. For an elderly asthmatic woman with heavy bags who has just been on an 8+ hour flight with no break except to get badgered through security, yeah right. Thanks a lot, dude. Real helpful. We walked her down to the gate and she was panting all the way. We found someone to help her get her bags on the plane and she thanked us without speaking. Thanks, United. You’ve really made that poor woman’s day. After a short respite at the United Lounge, we boarded our flight to Seattle. It is also with mixed emotions that our last destination in the US is Seattle. San Francisco still feels like home to me, and technically still is. However, home to Ben is Seattle, but we aren’t going home. We’ll be in a hotel for two nights and then move to Ben’s corporate housing. So, it’s a bit sad to come “home” to Seattle. I’ll be heading back to CA next week. It’s all just a bit of a weird situation. We were tired upon our arrival, but decided to get a cab to Redmond since Ben’s car is parked at his office. It’s also an opportunity to pick up some clean, warm clothes. Imagine our surprise when we ran into 5 people at work playing ping pong on Christmas night. Ben was excited to see his third baby (first two are his 5D and 7D), his A5. See a pattern here? With trepidation that our trip was finally at and end, we drove to the Waterfront Marriott in downtown Seattle, checked in, ordered room server and promptly fell asleep. A bit of a boring ending to a fabulous trip.


Luxury at last	Christmas Dinner

We wake to a glorious morning in Seattle and the end to our Honeymoon.


The view from our hotel room, Puget Sound on Boxing Day	Pancakes, Egg’s Benedict with Alaskan Crab, Starbuck’s coffee and fresh orange juice